@onebloodsoakedlion​​   submitted:

Red Sonja Redesign time!

(Don’t know who the original image belongs to, but here’s a link: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e1/56/a2/e156a2b24baea30029d0850418c00694.jpg)

I know I’m not the first to do this, but here’s a redesign of Red Sonja. Not just repairing her armour, but a complete overhaul.

I hit an artist’s block at first, because Red Sonja’s “armour” was SO messed up that I didn’t know where to start… but then I remembered that she was a “She-Devil with a sword”, so I decided to make her armour reflect that with intimidating red colours and bloodsoaked horns. 

I decided I’d start off by giving Sonja a horned helmet, because what is a She-Devil without horns? I squared out her face a bit, to make her look more like an actual barbarian instead of some kind of beauty model. I gave her a scarf to add to her intimidation/distraction factor, but with the hot climate I guess she probably doesn’t wear it all the time. The horned shoulderpads add even more to the intimidation and are an improvement compared to her original design. I just realised, while making this post, that I was unconsciously inspired by Rando’s gang in LISA: The Painful/Joyful

Here’s where I started getting inspiration from the Barbarian armour set from LoZ – Breath of the Wild. I gave Sonja an outwards-facing breastplate to squish in those big, possibly annoying boobs like a sports bra, whilst also protecting her heart and lungs. I gave her horned forearm guards to protect her forearms from the same attacks that caused her death in whatever issue it was… I forget… thoguh I left the gloves alone because they would be quite useful when combined with the arm guards. All of this is lined with an orange material to protect the skin from chafing or whatever, and said material is light and breathable, of course! I also changed Sonja’s very body shape, because wouldn’t fighting bad buys for years give you well-developed muscles instead of a skinny, frail body that the comics depict? I didn’t cover up the abdomen because I still wanted that barbarian theme to some extent, and besides, you now get to see her six-pack! 

The leg area was where the BoTW inspiration was most prominent. I gave Red Sonja a very similar fur covering on her legs as the aformentioned armour set. The shorts provide further protection from the elements and nasty male perverts. The belt, of course, sports crossbones to further the intimidation. Red Sonja now has decent-sized boots with spikes on the ankles, some of which are soaked in the blood of her enemies.

Honestly, I could’ve done better with this, not just design-wise but drawing-wise. I really suck at editing drawings with different artstyles to mine, because I have little experience in that field, but I’m pretty sure that someone can come along and polish this whole thing up. But I think my redesign makes a great starting point for something greater. 

Thing about Red Sonja’s famous scalemail bikini is that it’s so absurdly deadly AND uninspired that you just can not go wrong with a redesign. Throw a sweater on her, like we did with Applibot and Zenescope ladies, and she’d still be better off. 

And you went above and beyond that, @onebloodsoakedlion​​. Clearly, with the bare stomach and so many spikes you still went for stylization over realism, except now she’s drawn to look cool and intimidating, not like fap fodder.
I especially like the horned helmed idea to invoke her She-Devil nickname. One thing I’d maybe propose rethinking is the color scheme. Orange on red worn by a redhead isn’t exactly flattering choice. I’d change one of them to brown and make sure the hues contrast one another better. 

Thank you for the submission! 

~Ozzie